This invention relates to providing an improved electrical generation system utilizing waste oil as a combustible fuel. More particularly, this invention relates to the co-generation of electrical power using a generator powered by the heat energy produced by a waste-oil-fired furnace.
Approximately 1.4 billion gallons of used oil is generated in the United States each year. Approximately ten percent of that amount is properly recycled, with the remainder dumped into the environment. Waste oil dumping has increasingly become a major worldwide environmental issue. It has been shown that one gallon of waste oil can contaminate up to one million gallons of water. Currently, forty percent of the pollution found in the waterways of the United States is created by waste oil, with similar pollution statistics reported by other industrialized countries. In 1980 the U.S. Congress passed the Used Oil Recycling Act to establish a national policy governing used oil. One significant aspect of the legislation was the acceptance of on-site burning of waste oil to produce usable heat. Government leaders recognized that making used oil valuable for hundreds of thousands of small businesses was the best way to prevent dumping and water pollution.
In the United States, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) currently acts to establish, monitor and manage waste oil control guidelines in an attempt reduce hazardous environmental waste oil contamination from waste oil dumping. The EPA's rule generally states: